District Court Cases Not The Usual Motion Day Agenda

The Criminal Docket at Mitchell County District Court Motion Day was shortened drastically due to unforeseen changes that took place on a number of the cases that were due to come before Judge Kim Cudney Thursday afternoon.

In the case of the State Of Kansas, Represented by Mitchell County Attorney, Mark J. Noah VS. Eli Clemente-Gonzales, who was to come before Judge Cudney for sentencing was to be represented by Paul Hickman. Hector Soler was present to interpret what was said into Spanish so Gonzales could understand the charges against him.

Attorney Hickman was unable to be present due to serious health issues and contacted Attorney Richard Comfort, Minneapolis, to fill in for him. Comfort had not seen the evidence or had time to confer with Gonzales and so asked for a motion for departure to move the sentencing to September 26 at 9:30 a.m. Gonzales was remanded back into the custody of the Mitchell County Sheriffs Office until the time of his sentencing.

In the three misdemeanor cases pending on defendant, Matthias Schroeder, Jr. represented by Caleb Boone VS the State of Kansas represented by Mark J. Noah, Mitchell County Attorney. Schroeder was to come before Judge Cudney for arraignment Thursday afternoon; however, neither Schroeder nor his attorney was present in the courtroom. Arrangements were made to have the Judge, along with the two primary attorneys Boone and Noah, present to cover these proceedings in a telephone conference call on September 13, 2012. A trial date will then be set and a jury selected to try Schroeder on all three of these charges at one time.

In the two cases on the docket naming Janeal Spear as defendant who was to come before Judge Cudney for Arraignment. Spear was not present but was represented by Attorney James M. Johnson who asked for and was granted a continuance on Spear's arraignment. No reasons were announced.

In the case of the State of Kansas, represented by Mitchell County Attorney, Mark J. Noah VS Dominic Segura, represented by Kevin L. Phillips. Segura was to come before Judge Cudney for arraignment but failed to show up. It was announced that the defendant signed a waver on his arraignment last week but Judge Cudney gave Phillips until the end of the criminal docket to produce the defendant or she would issue a bench warrant for his arrest. The defendant did not show up and action was taken.

In the case of Darrell D. Patterson represented by Julie Effenbeck VS The State of Kansas, represented by Mitchell County Attorney Mark J. Noah. Patterson was present for sentencing for his third DUI offense, a non-person, non-grid felony that occurred when he was picked up on July 6, 2012. Patterson's lawyer stated he has completed his drug treatment and now has a job with a construction company in Wichita. The Judge sentenced him to 1 year in the Mitchell County Jail but granted him probation and 12 months under the supervision of Court Services. He also received 50 hours community service work. Patterson has served 88 days of his 90-day sentence and will be required to serve the remaining two days in the county jail within the next 60 days to finish out his sentence as required by law. He was judged able to pay attorney fees of $600 and jail fees of $100.